Both systems are known as modular-neck stems. In these hip replacements, the "stem" is inserted into the femur, the "neck" goes inside the stem and is attached to a ball that links the artificial hip with the pelvis.

The artificial hips failed when the neck and the stem pieces rubbed against each other, causing the metal to corrode and release cobalt into the bloodstream, Cal Warriner, the attorney who filed the suits against Stryker, said.

"These people, in essence, are being poisoned," Warriner, an attorney at West Palm Beach law firm Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart and Shipley, told NJ.com.

A spokeswoman for Stryker declined to give a statement for this article, citing a company policy against commenting on legal matters.

The operation to remove the hip replacement is risky and challenging, Warriner said. The Rejuvenate and ABG II both include stems that are driven into the femur with a hammer or mallet.

Taking it out is like removing rebar from concrete, Warriner said.

"I have clients who sustained fractures of the femur during the revision surgery," he said. "It broke the femur either trying to get the old implant out or trying to put the revision femur in."

Warriner filed suit on Stryker's home turf, in Bergen County Superior Court. The flight to Newark takes about as long as the drive from West Palm Beach to Miami in traffic, he said.

In addition, New Jersey allows the same judge to handle cases in which many people make a claim against the same product, through the state Multicounty Litigation Center.

"New Jersey is one of the few states in the country that's been very forward-thinking about coordinated proceedings in cases where a lot of people are hurt by the same drug or medical device," Warriner said.

Warriner doesn't know how much he will seek for each client yet. His clients range from as young as 35 to as old as 93.

While he has only filed eight lawsuits, Warriner expects hundreds more to come forward. So far, the claimants are from Florida, Minnesota and Arizona.

"I think you're going to see a lot more filings over the next few weeks and months," he said.